AC/DC: Brian Johnson’s Hearing Treatment, New Album Details & More

Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

October 7th, 2020 11:00 AM

AC/DC has been making a lot of noise as of late thanks to their new album, Power Up on the way, but they haven’t done much talking to the press until now.

The band gave an exclusive interview to Rolling Stone where they touched on a number of topics from Brian Johnson’s hearing issues to how they reunited to make Power Up to life following the death of Malcolm Young.

Here are six major takeaways from AC/DC’s Rolling Stone interview.

• ‘Power Up’ is to Malcolm what ‘Back in Black’ was to Bon

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  AC/DC's new studio album will serve as a tribute to Malcolm Young. "This record is pretty much a dedication to Malcolm, my brother,” said Angus Young. “It’s a tribute for him like 'Back in Black' was a tribute to Bon Scott.”

• The pandemic affected the album’s release

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  'Power Up' was originally slated to be released in early 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic derailed those plans. “We were hoping to get the album out before all this happened,” said Angus Young. “They were getting ideas together for packaging and video promo things. And then that virus thing came along. It kind of put everyone on hold.”

• Malcolm’s funeral is what brought the band back together

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  AC/DC was pretty much dormant when Malcolm Young died in 2017. However, his funeral brought the likes of Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd together again with Angus Young. For Phil and Angus, Malcolm's funeral was the first time they saw each other in three years.
• Brian Johnson’s hearing

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  Obviously, Brian Johnson's hearing issues are what led to his exit from the band in early 2016, but he's received some very secretive treatment from "an unnamed hearing expert" that has allowed him to hear properly and sing with the band again. "The first time he came down he brought this thing that looked like a car battery," said Johnson. "I went, ‘What in the hell is that?’ He said, ‘We’re going to miniaturize it.’ It took two and a half years. He came down once a month. We’d sit there and it was boring as s--- with all these wires and computer screens and noises. But it was well worth it. The only thing I can tell you is that it uses the bone structure in the skull as a receiver. That’s as much as I can tell you."

• The song titles on ‘Power Up’ are classic AC/DC

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  While the new album will serve as a tribute to Malcolm Young, the song titles definitely have the AC/DC touch. Some titles include "Demon Fire," "Witch's Spell" and..."Money Shot." (Yes, you read that correctly.) Despite the title, Angus Young claims to not know of the phrase's pornographic origins. "Photographers used to say to us, ‘Do this,’ and they’d go ‘You’re on the money — that’s the money shot,'” said Angus. “When we were putting the song down with [producer] Brendan [O'Brien], I was telling him about it. He says, ‘Everyone knows what the money shot is.’ I’m going, ‘Huh?’ It was by accident." Angus also confirmed that most of the songs on 'Power Up' were leftover ideas written for 2008's 'Black Ice.'

• The band hopes to eventually tour in support of the album.

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  Plans to tour in support of the album were in the works, but then the pandemic changed all of that. Brian Johnson did say the band managed to do one live rehearsal before things shut down and said, "It was with the boys in full battlefield conditions and it was smashing, brilliant. I felt like I was a kid again."

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Author Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter

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